The present invention relates to the subject matter of co-pending U.S. Ser. No. 10/346,671, filed Jan. 17, 2003 and PCT US03/01388 filed Jan. 17, 2003, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes. There is a need in the health care industry to package pharmaceuticals in alternative ways to efficiently provide drug delivery, such as in a sustained release format, and particularly as applied to a biomedical device that is implanted in a body of an animal or human.
An object of the present invention is to provide an efficient technique and device for introducing a pharmaceutical agent into a body, particularly for sustained release following a surgical procedure.
Another object is to apply one or a plurality of sustained release pharmaceutical agents to a generally conventional implant design in a manner such that over time the active ingredient of the pharmaceutical agent becomes bioavailable within the body.
The following items may be relevant to the present invention and are hereby incorporated by reference herein for all purposes; for instance it is contemplated that the methods, therapies or devices of the disclosed subject matter may be adapted to employ the novel features of the present invention: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,853,224; 5,876,438; 5,843,184; 5,616,122; 5,375,611; 5,273,751; and 5,401,880.